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The percutaneous biopsy technique enables researchers and clinicians to collect skeletal muscle tissue samples. The technique is safe and highly effective. This video describes the percutaneous biopsy technique using a modified Bergström needle to obtain skeletal muscle tissue samples from the vastus lateralis of human subjects. The Bergström needle consists of an outer cannula with a small opening (‘window’) at the side of the tip and an inner trocar with a cutting blade at the distal end. Under local anesthesia and aseptic conditions, the needle is advanced into the skeletal muscle through an incision in the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and fascia. Next, suction is applied to the inner trocar, the outer trocar is pulled back, skeletal muscle tissue is drawn into the window of the outer cannula by the suction, and the inner trocar is rapidly closed, thus cutting or clipping the skeletal muscle tissue sample. The needle is rotated 90° and another cut is made. This process may be repeated three more times. This multiple cutting technique typically produces a sample of 100-200 mg or more in healthy subjects and can be done immediately before, during, and after a bout of exercise or other intervention. Following post-biopsy dressing of the incision site, subjects typically resume their activities of daily living right away and can fully participate in vigorous physical activity within 48-72 hr. Subjects should avoid heavy resistance exercise for 48 hr to reduce the risk of herniation of the muscle through the incision in the fascia.

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Assessment of Murine Exercise Endurance Without the Use of a Shock Grid: An Alternative to Forced Exercise

Using laboratory mouse models, the molecular pathways responsible for the metabolic benefits of endurance exercise are beginning to be defined. The most common method for assessing exercise endurance in mice utilizes forced running on a motorized treadmill equipped with a shock grid. Animals who quit running are pushed by the moving treadmill belt onto a grid that delivers an electric foot shock; to escape the negative stimulus, the mice return to running on the belt. However, avoidance behavior and psychological stress due to use of a shock apparatus can interfere with quantitation of running endurance, as well as confound measurements of postexercise serum hormone and cytokine levels. Here, we demonstrate and validate a refined method to measure running endurance in naïve C57BL/6 laboratory mice on a motorized treadmill without utilizing a shock grid. When mice are preacclimated to the treadmill, they run voluntarily with gait speeds specific to each mouse. Use of the shock grid is replaced by gentle encouragement by a human operator using a tongue depressor, coupled with sensitivity to the voluntary willingness to run on the part of the mouse. Clear endpoints for quantifying running time-to-exhaustion for each mouse are defined and reflected in behavioral signs of exhaustion such as splayed posture and labored breathing. This method is a humane refinement which also decreases the confounding effects of stress on experimental parameters.

Glycogen is the main energetic polymer of glucose in vertebrate animals and plays a crucial role in whole body metabolism as well as in cellular metabolism. Many methods to detect glycogen already exist but only a few are quantitative. We describe here a method using the Abcam Glycogen assay kit, which is based on specific degradation of glycogen to glucose by glucoamylase. Glucose is then specifically oxidized to a product that reacts with the OxiRed probe to produce fluorescence. Titration is accurate, sensitive and can be achieved on cell extracts or tissue sections. However, in contrast to other techniques, it does not give information about the distribution of glycogen in the cell. As an example of this technique, we describe here the titration of glycogen in two cell lines, Chinese hamster lung fibroblast CCL39 and human colon carcinoma LS174, incubated in normoxia (21% O2) versus hypoxia (1% O2). We hypothesized that hypoxia is a signal that prepares cells to synthesize and store glycogen in order to survive1.

Isolation and Differentiation of Stromal Vascular Cells to Beige/Brite Cells

Authors: Ulrike Liisberg Aune, Lauren Ruiz, Shingo Kajimura.

Institutions: University of California, San Francisco , University of Copenhagen, Denmark, National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, Bergen, Norway.

Brown adipocytes have the ability to uncouple the respiratory chain in mitochondria and dissipate chemical energy as heat. Development of UCP1-positive brown adipocytes in white adipose tissues (so called beige or brite cells) is highly induced by a variety of environmental cues such as chronic cold exposure or by PPARγ agonists, therefore, this cell type has potential as a therapeutic target for obesity treatment. Although most immortalized adipocyte lines cannot recapitulate the process of "browning" of white fat in culture, primary adipocytes isolated from stromal vascular fraction in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) provide a reliable cellular system to study the molecular control of beige/brite cell development. Here we describe a protocol for effective isolation of primary preadipocytes and for inducing differentiation to beige/brite cells in culture. The browning effect can be assessed by the expression of brown fat-selective markers such as UCP1.

The article describes a readily easy adaptive in vitro model to investigate macrophage polarization. In the presence of GM-CSF/M-CSF, hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from the bone marrow are directed into monocytic differentiation, followed by M1 or M2 stimulation. The activation status can be tracked by changes in cell surface antigens, gene expression and cell signaling pathways.

Exercise is a physiological stimulus capable of inducing apoptosis in immune cells. To date, various limitations have been identified with the measurement of this phenomenon, particularly relating to the amount of time required to isolate and treat a blood sample prior to the assessment of cell death. Because of this, it is difficult to determine whether reported increases in immune cell apoptosis can be contributed to the actual effect of exercise on the system, or are a reflection of the time and processing necessary to eventually obtain this measurement. In this article we demonstrate a rapid and minimally invasive procedure for the analysis of exercise-induced lymphocyte apoptosis. Unlike other techniques, whole blood is added to an antibody panel immediately upon obtaining a sample. Following the incubation period, red blood cells are lysed and samples are ready to be analyzed. The use of a finger-stick sampling procedure reduces the volume of blood required, and minimizes the discomfort to subjects.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), also known as exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD), is commonly experienced in individuals who have been physically inactive for prolonged periods of time, and begin with an unexpected bout of exercise1-4, but can also occur in athletes who exercise beyond their normal limits of training5. The symptoms associated with this painful phenomenon can range from slight muscle tenderness, to severe debilitating pain1,3,5. The intensity of these symptoms and the related discomfort increases within the first 24 hours following the termination of the exercise, and peaks between 24 to 72 hours post exercise1,3. For this reason, DOMS is one of the most common recurrent forms of sports injury that can affect an individual’s performance, and become intimidating for many1,4.
For the last 3 decades, the DOMS phenomenon has gained a considerable amount of interest amongst researchers and specialists in exercise physiology, sports, and rehabilitation fields6. There has been a variety of published studies investigating this painful occurrence in regards to its underlying mechanisms, treatment interventions, and preventive strategies1-5,7-12. However, it is evident from the literature that DOMS is not an easy pathology to quantify, as there is a wide amount of variability between the measurement tools and methods used to quantify this condition6. It is obvious that no agreement has been made on one best evaluation measure for DOMS, which makes it difficult to verify whether a specific intervention really helps in decreasing the symptoms associated with this type of soreness or not. Thus, DOMS can be seen as somewhat ambiguous, because many studies depend on measuring soreness using a visual analog scale (VAS)10,13-15, which is a subjective rather than an objective measure. Even though needle biopsies of the muscle, and blood levels of myofibre proteins might be considered a gold standard to some6, large variations in some of these blood proteins have been documented 6,16, in addition to the high risks sometimes associated with invasive techniques.
Therefore, in the current investigation, we tested a thermal infra-red (IR) imaging technique of the skin above the exercised muscle to detect the associated muscle soreness. Infra-red thermography has been used, and found to be successful in detecting different types of diseases and infections since the 1950’s17. But surprisingly, near to nothing has been done on DOMS and changes in skin temperature. The main purpose of this investigation was to examine changes in DOMS using this safe and non-invasive technique.

Institutions: University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Anchorage-independent growth is the ability of transformed cells to grow independently of a solid surface, and is a hallmark of carcinogenesis. The soft agar colony formation assay is a well-established method for characterizing this capability in vitro and is considered to be one of the most stringent tests for malignant transformation in cells. This assay also allows for semi-quantitative evaluation of this capability in response to various treatment conditions. Here, we will demonstrate the soft agar colony formation assay using a murine lung carcinoma cell line, CMT167, to demonstrate the tumor suppressive effects of two members of the Wnt signaling pathway, Wnt7A and Frizzled-9 (Fzd-9). Concurrent overexpression of Wnt7a and Fzd-9 caused an inhibition of colony formation in CMT167 cells. This shows that expression of Wnt7a ligand and its Frizzled-9 receptor is sufficient to suppress tumor growth in a murine lung carcinoma model.

Muscle satellite cells are a stem cell population required for postnatal skeletal muscle development and regeneration, accounting for 2-5% of sublaminal nuclei in muscle fibers. In adult muscle, satellite cells are normally mitotically quiescent. Following injury, however, satellite cells initiate cellular proliferation to produce myoblasts, their progenies, to mediate the regeneration of muscle. Transplantation of satellite cell-derived myoblasts has been widely studied as a possible therapy for several regenerative diseases including muscular dystrophy, heart failure, and urological dysfunction. Myoblast transplantation into dystrophic skeletal muscle, infarcted heart, and dysfunctioning urinary ducts has shown that engrafted myoblasts can differentiate into muscle fibers in the host tissues and display partial functional improvement in these diseases. Therefore, the development of efficient purification methods of quiescent satellite cells from skeletal muscle, as well as the establishment of satellite cell-derived myoblast cultures and transplantation methods for myoblasts, are essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms behind satellite cell self-renewal, activation, and differentiation. Additionally, the development of cell-based therapies for muscular dystrophy and other regenerative diseases are also dependent upon these factors.
However, current prospective purification methods of quiescent satellite cells require the use of expensive fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) machines. Here, we present a new method for the rapid, economical, and reliable purification of quiescent satellite cells from adult mouse skeletal muscle by enzymatic dissociation followed by magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). Following isolation of pure quiescent satellite cells, these cells can be cultured to obtain large numbers of myoblasts after several passages. These freshly isolated quiescent satellite cells or ex vivo expanded myoblasts can be transplanted into cardiotoxin (CTX)-induced regenerating mouse skeletal muscle to examine the contribution of donor-derived cells to regenerating muscle fibers, as well as to satellite cell compartments for the examination of self-renewal activities.

Institutions: University of Alabama at Birmingham, INRA UR1067, INRA UR1037.

Due to the inherent difficulty and time involved with studying the myogenic program in vivo, primary culture systems derived from the resident adult stem cells of skeletal muscle, the myogenic precursor cells (MPCs), have proven indispensible to our understanding of mammalian skeletal muscle development and growth. Particularly among the basal taxa of Vertebrata, however, data are limited describing the molecular mechanisms controlling the self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation of MPCs. Of particular interest are potential mechanisms that underlie the ability of basal vertebrates to undergo considerable postlarval skeletal myofiber hyperplasia (i.e. teleost fish) and full regeneration following appendage loss (i.e. urodele amphibians). Additionally, the use of cultured myoblasts could aid in the understanding of regeneration and the recapitulation of the myogenic program and the differences between them. To this end, we describe in detail a robust and efficient protocol (and variations therein) for isolating and maintaining MPCs and their progeny, myoblasts and immature myotubes, in cell culture as a platform for understanding the evolution of the myogenic program, beginning with the more basal vertebrates. Capitalizing on the model organism status of the zebrafish (Danio rerio), we report on the application of this protocol to small fishes of the cyprinid clade Danioninae. In tandem, this protocol can be utilized to realize a broader comparative approach by isolating MPCs from the Mexican axolotl (Ambystomamexicanum) and even laboratory rodents. This protocol is now widely used in studying myogenesis in several fish species, including rainbow trout, salmon, and sea bream1-4.

Institutions: Medical College of Wisconsin, The Ohio State University, Virginia Tech, University of Kentucky, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cure Congenital Muscular Dystrophy, Joshua Frase Foundation, University of Washington, University of Arizona.

Skeletal muscle is a unique tissue because of its structure and function, which requires specific protocols for tissue collection to obtain optimal results from functional, cellular, molecular, and pathological evaluations. Due to the subtlety of some pathological abnormalities seen in congenital muscle disorders and the potential for fixation to interfere with the recognition of these features, pathological evaluation of frozen muscle is preferable to fixed muscle when evaluating skeletal muscle for congenital muscle disease. Additionally, the potential to produce severe freezing artifacts in muscle requires specific precautions when freezing skeletal muscle for histological examination that are not commonly used when freezing other tissues. This manuscript describes a protocol for rapid freezing of skeletal muscle using isopentane (2-methylbutane) cooled with liquid nitrogen to preserve optimal skeletal muscle morphology. This procedure is also effective for freezing tissue intended for genetic or protein expression studies. Furthermore, we have integrated our freezing protocol into a broader procedure that also describes preferred methods for the short term triage of tissue for (1) single fiber functional studies and (2) myoblast cell culture, with a focus on the minimum effort necessary to collect tissue and transport it to specialized research or reference labs to complete these studies. Overall, this manuscript provides an outline of how fresh tissue can be effectively distributed for a variety of phenotypic studies and thereby provides standard operating procedures (SOPs) for pathological studies related to congenital muscle disease.

Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is a rare idiopathic inflammatory myopathy. It is known to produces remarkable muscle weakness and to greatly compromise function and quality of life. Moreover, clinical practice suggests that, unlike other inflammatory myopathies, the majority of IBM patients are not responsive to treatment with immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs to counteract disease progression1. Additionally, conventional resistance training programs have been proven ineffective in restoring muscle function and muscle mass in these patients2,3. Nevertheless, we have recently observed that restricting muscle blood flow using tourniquet cuffs in association with moderate intensity resistance training in an IBM patient produced a significant gain in muscle mass and function, along with substantial benefits in quality of life4. Thus, a new non-pharmacological approach for IBM patients has been proposed. Herein, we describe the details of a proposed protocol for vascular occlusion associated with a resistance training program for this population.

Institutions: University of Sao Paulo, University of Sao Paulo, University of Sao Paulo, University of Sao Paulo.

One of the most important aspects of the metabolic demand is the relative contribution of the energy systems to the total energy required for a given physical activity. Although some sports are relatively easy to be reproduced in a laboratory (e.g., running and cycling), a number of sports are much more difficult to be reproduced and studied in controlled situations. This method presents how to assess the differential contribution of the energy systems in sports that are difficult to mimic in controlled laboratory conditions. The concepts shown here can be adapted to virtually any sport.
The following physiologic variables will be needed: rest oxygen consumption, exercise oxygen consumption, post-exercise oxygen consumption, rest plasma lactate concentration and post-exercise plasma peak lactate. To calculate the contribution of the aerobic metabolism, you will need the oxygen consumption at rest and during the exercise. By using the trapezoidal method, calculate the area under the curve of oxygen consumption during exercise, subtracting the area corresponding to the rest oxygen consumption. To calculate the contribution of the alactic anaerobic metabolism, the post-exercise oxygen consumption curve has to be adjusted to a mono or a bi-exponential model (chosen by the one that best fits). Then, use the terms of the fitted equation to calculate anaerobic alactic metabolism, as follows: ATP-CP metabolism = A1 (mL . s-1) x t1 (s). Finally, to calculate the contribution of the lactic anaerobic system, multiply peak plasma lactate by 3 and by the athlete’s body mass (the result in mL is then converted to L and into kJ).
The method can be used for both continuous and intermittent exercise. This is a very interesting approach as it can be adapted to exercises and sports that are difficult to be mimicked in controlled environments. Also, this is the only available method capable of distinguishing the contribution of three different energy systems. Thus, the method allows the study of sports with great similarity to real situations, providing desirable ecological validity to the study.

One of the most pressing problems facing modern medical researchers is the surging levels of obesity, with the consequent increase in associated disorders such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease 1-3. An important topic of research into these associated health problems involves the role of endurance exercise as a beneficial intervention.
Exercise training is an inexpensive, non-invasive intervention with several beneficial results, including reduction in excess body fat 4, increased insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle 5, increased anti-inflammatory and antioxidative responses 6, and improved contractile capacity in cardiomyocytes 7. Low intensity exercise is known to increase mitochondrial activity and biogenesis in humans 8 and mice, with the transcriptional coactivator PGC1-α as an important intermediate 9,10.
Despite the importance of exercise as a tool for combating several important age-related diseases, extensive longitudinal genetic studies have been impeded by the lack of an endurance training protocol for a short-lived genetic model species. The variety of genetic tools available for use with Drosophila, together with its short lifespan and inexpensive maintenance, make it an appealing model for further study of these genetic mechanisms. With this in mind we have developed a novel apparatus, known as the Power Tower, for large scale exercise-training in Drosophila melanogaster11. The Power Tower utilizes the flies' instinctive negative geotaxis behavior to repetitively induce rapid climbing. Each time the machine lifts, then drops, the platform of flies, the flies are induced to climb. Flies continue to respond as long as the machine is in operation or until they become too fatigued to respond. Thus, the researcher can use this machine to provide simultaneous training to large numbers of age-matched and genetically identical flies. Additionally, we describe associated assays useful to track longitudinal progress of fly cohorts during training.

Physiology, Issue 61, Drosophila, endurance, exercise, training

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Non-radioactive in situ Hybridization Protocol Applicable for Norway Spruce and a Range of Plant Species

The high-throughput expression analysis technologies available today give scientists an overflow of expression profiles but their resolution in terms of tissue specific expression is limited because of problems in dissecting individual tissues. Expression data needs to be confirmed and complemented with expression patterns using e.g. in situ hybridization, a technique used to localize cell specific mRNA expression. The in situ hybridization method is laborious, time-consuming and often requires extensive optimization depending on species and tissue. In situ experiments are relatively more difficult to perform in woody species such as the conifer Norway spruce (Picea abies). Here we present a modified DIG in situ hybridization protocol, which is fast and applicable on a wide range of plant species including P. abies. With just a few adjustments, including altered RNase treatment and proteinase K concentration, we could use the protocol to study tissue specific expression of homologous genes in male reproductive organs of one gymnosperm and two angiosperm species; P. abies, Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus. The protocol worked equally well for the species and genes studied. AtAP3 and BnAP3 were observed in second and third whorl floral organs in A. thaliana and B. napus and DAL13 in microsporophylls of male cones from P. abies. For P. abies the proteinase K concentration, used to permeablize the tissues, had to be increased to 3 g/ml instead of 1 g/ml, possibly due to more compact tissues and higher levels of phenolics and polysaccharides. For all species the RNase treatment was removed due to reduced signal strength without a corresponding increase in specificity. By comparing tissue specific expression patterns of homologous genes from both flowering plants and a coniferous tree we demonstrate that the DIG in situ protocol presented here, with only minute adjustments, can be applied to a wide range of plant species. Hence, the protocol avoids both extensive species specific optimization and the laborious use of radioactively labeled probes in favor of DIG labeled probes. We have chosen to illustrate the technically demanding steps of the protocol in our film.
Anna Karlgren and Jenny Carlsson contributed equally to this study.
Corresponding authors: Anna Karlgren at Anna.Karlgren@ebc.uu.se and Jens F. Sundström at Jens.Sundstrom@vbsg.slu.se

Patient-derived iPSCs could be an invaluable source of cells for future autologous cell therapy protocols. iPSC-derived myogenic stem/progenitor cells similar to pericyte-derived mesoangioblasts (iPSC-derived mesoangioblast-like stem/progenitor cells: IDEMs) can be established from iPSCs generated from patients affected by different forms of muscular dystrophy. Patient-specific IDEMs can be genetically corrected with different strategies (e.g. lentiviral vectors, human artificial chromosomes) and enhanced in their myogenic differentiation potential upon overexpression of the myogenesis regulator MyoD. This myogenic potential is then assessed in vitro with specific differentiation assays and analyzed by immunofluorescence. The regenerative potential of IDEMs is further evaluated in vivo, upon intramuscular and intra-arterial transplantation in two representative mouse models displaying acute and chronic muscle regeneration. The contribution of IDEMs to the host skeletal muscle is then confirmed by different functional tests in transplanted mice. In particular, the amelioration of the motor capacity of the animals is studied with treadmill tests. Cell engraftment and differentiation are then assessed by a number of histological and immunofluorescence assays on transplanted muscles. Overall, this paper describes the assays and tools currently utilized to evaluate the differentiation capacity of IDEMs, focusing on the transplantation methods and subsequent outcome measures to analyze the efficacy of cell transplantation.

The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) increases in post-menopausal women, yet, the role of exercise, as a preventative measure for CVD risk in post-menopausal women has not been adequately studied. Accordingly, we investigated the impact of voluntary cage-wheel exercise and forced treadmill exercise on cardiac adaptation in menopausal mice. The most commonly used inducible model for mimicking menopause in women is the ovariectomized (OVX) rodent. However, the OVX model has a few dissimilarities from menopause in humans. In this study, we administered 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) to female mice, which accelerates ovarian failure as an alternative menopause model to study the impact of exercise in menopausal mice. VCD selectively accelerates the loss of primary and primordial follicles resulting in an endocrine state that closely mimics the natural progression from pre- to peri- to post-menopause in humans. To determine the impact of exercise on exercise capacity and cardiac adaptation in VCD-treated female mice, two methods were used. First, we exposed a group of VCD-treated and untreated mice to a voluntary cage wheel. Second, we used forced treadmill exercise to determine exercise capacity in a separate group VCD-treated and untreated mice measured as a tolerance to exercise intensity and endurance.

The purpose of this report is to help develop an understanding of the effects caused by ion gradients across a biological membrane. Two aspects that influence a cell's membrane potential and which we address in these experiments are: (1) Ion concentration of K+ on the outside of the membrane, and (2) the permeability of the membrane to specific ions. The crayfish abdominal extensor muscles are in groupings with some being tonic (slow) and others phasic (fast) in their biochemical and physiological phenotypes, as well as in their structure; the motor neurons that innervate these muscles are correspondingly different in functional characteristics. We use these muscles as well as the superficial, tonic abdominal flexor muscle to demonstrate properties in synaptic transmission. In addition, we introduce a sensory-CNS-motor neuron-muscle circuit to demonstrate the effect of cuticular sensory stimulation as well as the influence of neuromodulators on certain aspects of the circuit. With the techniques obtained in this exercise, one can begin to answer many questions remaining in other experimental preparations as well as in physiological applications related to medicine and health. We have demonstrated the usefulness of model invertebrate preparations to address fundamental questions pertinent to all animals.

Getting to Compliance in Forced Exercise in Rodents: A Critical Standard to Evaluate Exercise Impact in Aging-related Disorders and Disease

Authors: Jennifer C. Arnold, Michael F. Salvatore.

Institutions: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

There is a major increase in the awareness of the positive impact of exercise on improving several disease states with neurobiological basis; these include improving cognitive function and physical performance. As a result, there is an increase in the number of animal studies employing exercise. It is argued that one intrinsic value of forced exercise is that the investigator has control over the factors that can influence the impact of exercise on behavioral outcomes, notably exercise frequency, duration, and intensity of the exercise regimen. However, compliance in forced exercise regimens may be an issue, particularly if potential confounds of employing foot-shock are to be avoided. It is also important to consider that since most cognitive and locomotor impairments strike in the aged individual, determining impact of exercise on these impairments should consider using aged rodents with a highest possible level of compliance to ensure minimal need for test subjects. Here, the pertinent steps and considerations necessary to achieve nearly 100% compliance to treadmill exercise in an aged rodent model will be presented and discussed. Notwithstanding the particular exercise regimen being employed by the investigator, our protocol should be of use to investigators that are particularly interested in the potential impact of forced exercise on aging-related impairments, including aging-related Parkinsonism and Parkinson’s disease.

The development of more predictive and biologically relevant in vitro assays is predicated on the advancement of versatile cell culture systems which facilitate the functional assessment of the seeded cells. To that end, microscale cantilever technology offers a platform with which to measure the contractile functionality of a range of cell types, including skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle cells, through assessment of contraction induced substrate bending. Application of multiplexed cantilever arrays provides the means to develop moderate to high-throughput protocols for assessing drug efficacy and toxicity, disease phenotype and progression, as well as neuromuscular and other cell-cell interactions. This manuscript provides the details for fabricating reliable cantilever arrays for this purpose, and the methods required to successfully culture cells on these surfaces. Further description is provided on the steps necessary to perform functional analysis of contractile cell types maintained on such arrays using a novel laser and photo-detector system. The representative data provided highlights the precision and reproducible nature of the analysis of contractile function possible using this system, as well as the wide range of studies to which such technology can be applied. Successful widespread adoption of this system could provide investigators with the means to perform rapid, low cost functional studies in vitro, leading to more accurate predictions of tissue performance, disease development and response to novel therapeutic treatment.

Institutions: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

We describe an in vitro method to measure bladder smooth muscle contractility, and its use for investigating physiological and pharmacological properties of the smooth muscle as well as changes induced by pathology. This method provides critical information for understanding bladder function while overcoming major methodological difficulties encountered in in vivo experiments, such as surgical and pharmacological manipulations that affect stability and survival of the preparations, the use of human tissue, and/or the use of expensive chemicals. It also provides a way to investigate the properties of each bladder component (i.e. smooth muscle, mucosa, nerves) in healthy and pathological conditions.
The urinary bladder is removed from an anesthetized animal, placed in Krebs solution and cut into strips. Strips are placed into a chamber filled with warm Krebs solution. One end is attached to an isometric tension transducer to measure contraction force, the other end is attached to a fixed rod. Tissue is stimulated by directly adding compounds to the bath or by electric field stimulation electrodes that activate nerves, similar to triggering bladder contractions in vivo. We demonstrate the use of this method to evaluate spontaneous smooth muscle contractility during development and after an experimental spinal cord injury, the nature of neurotransmission (transmitters and receptors involved), factors involved in modulation of smooth muscle activity, the role of individual bladder components, and species and organ differences in response to pharmacological agents. Additionally, it could be used for investigating intracellular pathways involved in contraction and/or relaxation of the smooth muscle, drug structure-activity relationships and evaluation of transmitter release.
The in vitro smooth muscle contractility method has been used extensively for over 50 years, and has provided data that significantly contributed to our understanding of bladder function as well as to pharmaceutical development of compounds currently used clinically for bladder management.

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